New Zealand is a country in the South West Pacific, a three hour flight south east of Australia and seven and a half hour flight north of Antarctica.  It is compromised of two main islands – the North Island and the South Island – and is roughly the same landmass as the U.K.

It is home to 4.2 million people.  The capital city is Wellington but Keitha and Susan come from the largest city in New Zealand, Auckland.  Auckland is built on two harbours and 49 dormant volcanoes and has a population of 1.4 million people – more than in the entire South Island.  Auckland has a temperate climate – warm, humid summers and mild, damp winters – and sees not a single flake of snow.

New Zealand is famous for breathtaking scenery, the All Blacks rugby team, sheep, the Maori people, unique wildlife including the Kiwi, and great food such as pavlova and hokey pokey ice cream.  It’s also famous as the country where the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Narnia films were made.